A violent brawl that seriously injured three people broke out at the Brazilian football league season end on Sunday.
A match in southern Brazil was stopped by fan violence in the stands, police fired rubber bullets to contain the crowd and an injured man was airlifted by helicopter to a hospital.
A doctor said two other fans were hospitalized in serious condition and one was treated for a minor injury at the stadium in the southern city of Joinville.
TV images showed seemingly unconscious men being kicked in the head despite appeals from football players.
Brazil league soccer match in Joinville was stopped by fans violence
A helicopter landed on the pitch to transport an injured man to hospital.
The shockingly violent scenes, broadcast live to millions of homes on Sunday afternoon, are bound to raise questions about Brazil’s ability to keep fans safe during next year’s World Cup, correspondents say.
The brawl in the Arena Joinville, in the southern state of Santa Catarina, started during the first half of the match.
One of Atletico Paranaense’s players was filmed crying after witnessing fans being viciously beaten.
“I’ve been playing for 20 years and I’ve never seen anything like this in person. We will have a World Cup in our country and we know these images will be shown everywhere,” defender Luiz Alberto told reporters.
Paul Walker’s fans and car enthusiasts paid tribute to the Fast & Furious star at a special car rally and public memorial service in Los Angeles.
Thousands of car fans revved their engines in Paul Walker’s honor at the event in Santa Clarita on Sunday.
Paul Walker’s Fast & Furious co-star Rick Yune was among those who attended.
The actor and his friend Roger Rodas both died when Rodas’ Porsche crashed and burst into flames last Saturday.
Paul Walker’s fans and car enthusiasts paid tribute to the Fast & Furious star at a special car rally and public memorial service in Los Angeles
“We mourn his loss, but maybe we could just remember how great a guy this guy was and celebrate his life,” Rick Yune said at the event, which was organized through social media.
It had been due to start at midday, but people arrived hours early to leave flowers, candles, stuffed animals and other tributes. A crowd of around 5,000 people had gathered by the afternoon.
Police said the event was mostly peaceful, although a man was arrested for carrying a partially hidden and loaded gun and there were several tickets issued for illegal parking.
The memorial concluded with a cruise through the area, 30 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles.
Paul Walker and Roger Rodas, who bonded over a passion for fast cars, were driving in Rodas’ Porsche following an event for Walker’s charity, Reach Out WorldWide.
The car crashed into a pole and tree and burst into flames. Investigators believe speed was a factor.
Coroner’s officials revealed Paul Walker died from a combination of injuries suffered in the impact and burns from the resulting fire, while Roger Rodas died from “multiple traumatic injuries”.
Facebook has developed a “Sympathize” button as an alternative to the “Like” button for use in certain situations.
If a user selected a negative emotion from Facebook’s list of feelings in a status update then the “Like” button would change to “Sympathize”.
A Facebook engineer said at a company event that the button had been created as part of an internal project.
But he later went on to say there were no plans to launch it at the moment.
Facebook has developed a “Sympathize” button as an alternative to the “Like” button for use in certain situations
Facebook were holding a “compassion research day” where members of the public and researchers are invited along to “improve [Facebook’s] understanding of the driving forces and benefits of compassion”.
In a Q&A session an audience member asked if Facebook had thought about changing the “Like” button when it felt inappropriate in relation to what a user had posted, for example when someone had written that their parents had died.
Dan Muriello, a software engineer at Facebook, said another engineer had worked on a hackathon project “a while back” to change the “Like” button to “Sympathize”.
It would not work for every post he said but if you tag a status with certain emotions from a fixed list then the “Like” button would change.
“A lot of people were very excited. But we made a decision that it was not exactly the right time to launch that product. Yet,” he said.
Facebook hackathons are events where the company’s engineers get together and brainstorm new ideas, like Facebook Chat and the “friend suggester” facility.
Riot police are taking up positions near Kiev’s City Hall, where thousands of Ukrainian anti-government protesters have massed.
More police are being bussed in with priests urging them not to use force.
The tense stand-off follows weeks of demonstrations after a government U-turn on a free trade deal with the EU.
President Viktor Yanukovych said a short while ago he would hold talks involving the opposition on Tuesday.
A statement on the president’s website said Viktor Yanukovych would hold talks with three of his predecessors on Tuesday to try to find a compromise.
The protesters have given Viktor Yanukovych 48 hours to dismiss the government and are demanding new elections for the presidency and government.
They have condemned Viktor Yanukovych for refusing to sign an association agreement with the EU last month. He said he shelved it because it would put trade with Russia at risk.
The protesters have given Viktor Yanukovych 48 hours to dismiss the government and are demanding new elections for the presidency and government
Protesters are blockading government buildings with cars, barricades and tents.
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton will be in Ukraine on Tuesday and Wednesday “to support a way out of the political crisis”.
President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, said in a statement that he had spoken to Viktor Yanukovych over the telephone and asked him “to show restraint”.
Jose Manuel Barroso said he had asked him “to not use force against the people that are demonstrating peacefully, to fully respect the freedoms that are so important for all of us in Europe”.
Hundreds of thousands of people took part in Sunday’s protest – the biggest so far in nearly three weeks of opposition demonstrations in Kiev.
During the evening, a group of protesters smashed the city’s statue of the Russian revolutionary leader Lenin, and brought its dismembered parts as trophies to Independence Square.
The statue stood at the top of Shevchenko Boulevard, and was toppled with metal bars and ropes, then smashed up with hammers. No arrests were reported in the incident.
These are the biggest street protests in Ukraine since the 2004 Orange Revolution, which swept pro-Western leaders to power, though Viktor Yanukovych made a comeback in 2010.
Many of the protesters suspect Russia’s President Vladimir Putin of trying to model a new Russian-led customs union on the Soviet Union. So far only Belarus and Kazakhstan have joined it.
The opposition party of jailed former PM Yulia Tymoshenko has urged people to “chase” the president “until he falls”.
Meanwhile the Ukrainian Security Service said it was investigating some politicians on suspicion of what it called “actions aimed at seizing state power”.
The Guinness World Record for the largest gathering of Santa’s elves was achieved on December 8, 2013, in Iasi City, Romania.
A total of 1,073 people turned up at Iasi’s Palas shopping center to break the record.
The previous record was staged in Ammanford Town Centre in the UK, where 762 elves gathered on November 17, 2012.
The Guinness World Record for the largest gathering of Santa’s elves was achieved on December 8, 2013, in Iasi City, Romania
Most of the participants were high school students between 11 and 18. For their dance performance, they rehearsed more than 180 hours, over a six-week period.
The youngest participant was a four-month old baby.
The costumes were worked on for about three months and over three kilometers of fabric were used. Claire Burgess, the official representative of Guinness World Records, confirmed the record.
South Africa’s parliament is meeting in special session to pay tribute to Nelson Mandela.
The country is observing a series of commemorations over the next week, leading up to the funeral on Sunday, December 15.
More than 100 current or former heads of state or government are expected to attend the funeral or Tuesday’s national memorial.
The foreign ministry says that 91 current heads of state or government have confirmed they are coming to South Africa, along with “10 former heads of state, 86 heads of delegations and 75 eminent persons”.
Presidents Barack Obama and Francois Hollande along with UK’s PM David Cameron will be among those attending Tuesday’s memorial.
Three former US presidents, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, will also be there.
On Saturday, Cuban state media announced that President Raul Castro would be one of those attending Nelson Mandela’s funeral.
South Africa’s parliament is meeting in special session to pay tribute to Nelson Mandela
Under Raul Castro’s brother Fidel, Cuba was a staunch critic of apartheid, and Nelson Mandela had expressed gratitude for his support.
Tuesday’s memorial service is likely to be one of the biggest such gatherings of international dignitaries in recent years.
Among those on the list are UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, German President Joachim Gauck, EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Crown Prince Felipe of Spain.
World leaders, global figures and celebrities will join 95,000 ordinary South Africans at the memorial service at FNB stadium in Soweto, where Nelson Mandela made his final major public appearance during the 2010 football World Cup.
Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and India’s President Pranab Mukherjee will also be coming.
Leading celebrities in the anti-apartheid movement Peter Gabriel and Bono are also expected to attend.
Nelson Mandela’s body will lie in state in Pretoria on the following three days and he will be given a state funeral on Sunday.
A smaller number of international dignitaries including the Prince of Wales will attend the burial in the Eastern Cape village of Qunu, where the late president grew up.
Mourners have gathered every day outside Nelson Mandela’s house in the Johannesburg suburb of Houghton.
Well wishers have lit candles there and laid thousands of wreaths of flowers at Nelson Mandela’s old home in Soweto.
Makaziwe Mandela has described the final hours of her father Nelson Mandela, who died aged 95 on December 5.
In an interview with BBC, Makaziwe Mandela revealed the former president’s wife Graca, the children and grandchildren were there “even at the last moment”.
Makaziwe Mandela said: “Until the last moment he had us, you know… The children were there, the grandchildren were there, Graca was there, so we are always around him and even at the last moment, we were sitting with him on Thursday the whole day.
“I think from last week, Friday until Thursday, it was a wonderful time, if you can say the process of death is wonderful. But Tata [Nelson Mandela] had a wonderful time, because we were there.
Makaziwe Mandela has described the final hours of her father Nelson Mandela
“When the doctors told us I think Thursday morning… that there was nothing that they could do, and said to me <<Maki call everybody that is here that wants to see him and say bye bye>>, it was a most wonderful day for us because the grandchildren were there, we were there.”
Makaziwe Mandela paid tribute to the doctors for the 24-hour care.
Nelson Mandela’s daughter said: “It was like there were soldiers guarding this period of the king – yes my father comes from royalty – without them knowing they were actually practicing our rituals and culture, they were there in silence and when we as family members come in they would excuse themselves and just a few of them would be there to give us the time to be around my dad’s bed.”
Makaziwe Mandela said that, for the past few months, she would tell her father that she loved him and that would see him again tomorrow.
“And maybe he would open his eyes for just a second and close those eyes,” she said.
Frozen has topped the US box office chart in its second week of release.
According to early estimates, Frozen took $31.6 million over the weekend, with the Hunger Games: Catching Fire sequel slipping to second place with $27 million.
The only new wide release was Out of the Furnace, which took $5.3 million to earn third place.
The steel-town drama stars Christian Bale and Casey Affleck.
Marvel’s Thor: The Dark World and Vince Vaughn’s Delivery Man rounded out the top five.
Despite opening in just four cinemas the Coen brothers’ latest film, Inside Llewyn Davis, scored one of the year’s highest per-cinema averages, taking $100,500.
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom continued to play in four cinemas in its second week of limited release, averaging $19,400 per cinema.
Frozen has topped the US box office chart in its second week of release
Producer Harvey Weinstein has said he will not alter the film’s release date to take advantage of Nelson Mandela’s death to boost sales for his biopic.
The film is due to be rolled out to about 850 cinemas on Christmas Day.
With Oscar season approaching, the website stated Weinstein was “keen to shun” any suggestions he had acquired the film recently “with an eye to Mandela being close to his demise”, adding he had acquired the rights to make it in 1999.
The weekend was typically quiet placed between Thanksgiving and Christmas, however takings were still up 16.9% on last year.
Next week sees the release of Peter Jackson’s second Hobbit film, The Hobbit: The Desolation of the Smaug.
The first, An Unexpected Journey, debuted with $84.6 million last year.
North Korean state television KCNA has broadcast images of Jang Sung-taek – the once powerful uncle of leader Kim Jong-un – being removed from a meeting, confirming reports of his dismissal.
The dramatic images show Jang Sung-taek being escorted from a party session by uniformed guards.
The television accused Jang Sung-taek of forming factions against the state, corruption and “depraved” acts such as womanizing and drug abuse.
Analysts say such a public dismissal is unique and could signal a wider purge.
It is the biggest upheaval in North Korea’s leadership since Kim Jong-un succeeded his father Kim Jongil two years ago.
The KCNA state news agency said the decision was announced after a meeting of the ruling communist Korean Workers’ Party Politburo over the weekend.
News of Jang Sung-taek’s dismissal filtered out in South Korea last week along with reports that two of his close aides had been executed for corruption. It is unclear when these latest images date from.
Jang Sung-taek escorted from a party session by uniformed guards
The KCNA report accuses Jang Sung-taek of being part of a faction working against the North Korean state.
“Jang pretended to uphold the party and leader but was engrossed in such factional acts as dreaming different dreams and involving himself in double-dealing behind the scenes.”
It also accused Jang Sung-taek of offences such as financial mismanagement and selling off national resources for his personal gain, but it also denounced him for leading what it called “a dissolute and depraved life”.
“Ideologically sick and extremely idle and easy-going, he used drugs and squandered foreign currency at casinos while he was receiving medical treatment in a foreign country under the care of the party,” the KCNA report said.
It added that Jang Sung-taek had “improper relations” with several women and “was wined and dined at back parlors of deluxe restaurants”.
Such an official announcement detailing a leader’s alleged crimes is unique.
Almost overnight, Jang Sung-taek has morphed from uncle and mentor to North Korea’s young leader, to “anti-revolutionary” criminal outcast.
The move could be seen as the latest in a series of carefully calibrated moves to demonstrate Kim Jong-un’s control, yet another sign of his authority and an assertion of his independence.
Jang Sung-taek is reported to have been stripped of all his positions and expelled from the party.
On Saturday, North Korean state TV was also reported to have removed footage of Jang Sung-taek from a documentary.
Vladimir Putin has abolished Russia’s state-owned news agency RIA Novosti.
In a surprise decree published on the Kremlin’s website on Monday, President Vladimir Putin announced it would be replaced by a news agency called Russia Today.
Russia Today will be headed by journalist and keen Kremlin supporter Dmitry Kiselev.
The state-owned Voice of Russia radio station has also been closed. The decree was effective immediately.
Sergey Ivanov, the head of the Kremlin administration, has told journalists in Moscow that the news agency is being restructured in order to make it more economical while increasing its reach, Interfax reports.
He was quoted as saying that the agency, which is being dissolved and reorganized as International News Agency Russia Today, needs to make “more rational use of public money” and that it has to be more effective.
Vladimir Putin announced Russia’s state-owned news agency RIA Novosti would be replaced by Russia Today
“Russia pursues an independent policy and robustly defends its national interests. It’s not easy to explain that to the world, but we can and must do this,” Sergey Ivanov said.
During Vladimir Putin’s time as Russia’s leader, RIA Novosti has tried hard to produce balanced coverage for Russian and international audiences.
Although state-owned, RIA Novosti has reflected the views of the opposition and covered difficult topics for the Kremlin.
Dmitry Kiselev is known for his ultra-conservative views, including recently saying that gay people should be banned from giving blood, and that their hearts should be burnt rather than used in transplants.
Reporting on its own demise, RIA Novosti noted in its news report that “the move is the latest in a series of shifts in Russia’s news landscape, which appear to point toward a tightening of state control in the already heavily regulated media sector”.
According to Venezuela’s National Electoral Council, the governing United Socialist Party (USP) has won the greatest share of the vote in Sunday’s local elections.
With most votes counted, the USP has 49% while the opposition has about 43%.
The opposition was ahead in most of the larger cities, including the capital, Caracas, while the governing party won in rural areas.
The elections have been seen as a key test for President Nicolas Maduro, who replaced the late Hugo Chavez in April.
Since November, Nicolas Maduro has been ruling by decree, promising to tackle corruption and control price rises.
The opposition accuses Nicolas Maduro of failing to deal with crime, inflation and a shortage of basic goods.
Nicolas Maduro’s United Socialist Party has won the greatest share of the vote in Venezuela’s local elections
Local elections in Venezuela are usually low key, but this one was filled with expectations for the government and the opposition.
Voters were electing mayors to 337 municipalities and officials to more than 2,000 city councils.
The opposition won mayoral races in the capital, Caracas, and the country’s second city. Maracaibo. They also won the capital of Barinas, from where former Hugo Chavez hailed.
So far, the USP has won in 196 of the municipalities being contested, while the opposition took 53, and independents another eight. The remainder have yet to be declared.
Nicolas Maduro called the results a “grand victory”, telling supporters at a rally in Caracas that “the Bolivarian Revolution continues now with more strength”.
The opposition’s failure to win a majority of the votes cast or significantly increase the number of municipalities under its control from the 46 won in the 2008 local elections was a disappointment to its leader Henrique Capriles.
Sunday’s elections coincided with the anniversary of Hugo Chavez’s famous speech in which he announced that his cancer had returned and named Nicolas Maduro as his preferred successor.
Thailand’s PM Yingluck Shinawatra has announced she will dissolve parliament and call an election, after sustained protests in the capital, Bangkok.
The move followed the resignation of all opposition MPs from parliament on Sunday, and a planned march on Government House on Monday.
Yingluck Shinawatra won elections in 2011.
However, the protesters allege Yingluck Shinawatra’s government is controlled by ousted leader Thaksin Shinawatra, and have vowed to continue the demonstrations.
Thailand’s PM Yingluck Shinawatra has announced she will dissolve parliament and call an election
The announcement came as Yingluck Shinawatra addressed the nation on television.
“The government does not want any loss of life,” she said.
“At this stage, when there are many people opposed to the government from many groups, the best way is to give back the power to the Thai people and hold an election,” Yingluck Shinawatra said.
“So the Thai people will decide.”
No date was given for the polls but Yingluck Shinawatra said they would be held “as soon as possible”.
In the general election in July 2011, Yingluck Shinawatra ‘s Pheu Thai party won a majority, with 265 seats to the Democrat Party’s 159 seats.
Under Thailand’s electoral regulations polls must be held within two months of parliament being dissolved.
Kim Kardashian invited a fan and her friend to sit with her in the VIP section at Kanye West’s Yeezus concert in New Orleans on Thursday, December 5.
Myleeza, whose Twitter handle is @MyleezaKardash, tweeted before the show that she was looking for Kim Kardashian in the crowd. Seeing the tweet – and noticing what a huge fan the girl is – Kim Kardashian decided to reach out.
“Kim’s security came to get me & [my friend] Sara and when we got to the VIP section…Kim immediately stood up and waved for us and said, <<Hey Myleeza! Thank you for coming!>>” the teen recalled, noting that Beyonce’s sister Solange Knowles and her son Juelz were also nearby.
Kim Kardashian invited Myleeza to sit with her in the VIP section at Kanye West’s Yeezus concert in New Orleans
“YES SHE KNEW ME & CAN PRONOUNCE MY NAME. I went CRAZY!”
Myleeza went on to describe how she and Sara were “dancing so hard and screaming every lyric with ‘Ye,” which Kim Kardashian apparently found amusing.
“Kim and her bestie Brittny [Gastineau] turned around and laughed at us which [was] so cool and embarrassing at the same time!” she wrote, adding that the reality star even asked to take a photo with her.
After the concert – which Myleeza described as “amazing” – Kim Kardashian invited the teen and her pal to go backstage to meet Kanye West.
“I COULDN’T TALK! My mouth DROPPED!” Myleeza wrote.
“Me & Sara started screaming and hugging and Kim and Brittny were laughing so hard at us.”
La Toya Jackson wed her longtime friend and business partner Jeffre Phillips in Los Angeles ceremony on December 6, according to RadarOnline.
Katherine Jackson and La Toya’s nephew Prince Jackson both reportedly attended the private ceremony.
La Toya Jackson, 57, and Jeffre Phillips, a performer-turned record-label exec and businessman, are co-founders of Ja-tail Enterprises, a management, marketing, publishing and entertainment company that represents former Real Housewives of New Jersey star Danielle Staub, among others.
La Toya Jackson wed her longtime friend and business partner Jeffre Phillips
The older sister of Michael Jackson, and Jeffre Phillips met in 1999 when they worked on the movie Shriek If You Know What I Screamed Last Friday the Thirteenth, according to their company website.
Jeffre Phillips proposed earlier this year on La Toya Jackson’s reality show, Life With La Toya.
This is the second marriage for La Toya Jackson, who was previously wed to manager Jack Gordon.
A winter storm that started in Washington has hit Texas hard on Saturday, causing event cancellations, travel hindrances and power outages.
Almost 50 weekend holiday events had been cancelled or postponed across Texas, including Sunday’s 44th annual Dallas Marathon, which was expected to draw 25,000 runners, many of whom had trained for months. The same weather system also forced the cancellation of the St. Jude Marathon in Memphis, which had been expected to include 20,000 competitors.
Four hundred flights remained grounded Sunday at Dallas Fort Worth International airport, according to airport officials, as crews scrambled to clear airport runways.
In Chicago, people started flooding into warming centers Saturday night as wind chills dropped below zero.
Some parts of Illinois were already slammed by a foot of snow, and Chicago would get 1 to 3 inches on Sunday, according to The Weather Channel.
A winter storm has hit Texas, causing event cancellations, travel hindrances and power outages
Residents in parts of Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee also woke up to snow and ice on Sunday.
In Virginia, state Emergency Management spokeswoman Laura Southard said the storm had the potential to be an “historic ice event.”
Other areas of the US that could expect precipitation in the form of snow or freezing rain Sunday were the Middle Missouri Valley into the Great Lakes, the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys, the Mid Atlantic and southern New England, according to the National Weather Service (NWS).
Mississippi, the Central Gulf Coast and the Tennessee Valley were all expected to dodge snowfall but could experience heavy, cold rain, the NWS predicted.
Residents in New York, Philadelphia, Washington DC, and Baltimore were warned to be careful on the roads, as they could be hit by the first major snow accumulation of the season Sunday night. But the snow is expected to change to rain overnight, the Weather Channel reported, making the morning commute a messy one.
In the even colder areas of New England and upstate New York, even a slight snowfall could create Monday morning problems as it changes to freezing rain and slippery sheets of ice, according to The Weather Channel.
The storm is expected to move out to the Atlantic on Monday night, according to the NWS.
Susan Boyle has revealed she has been diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome.
The Scottish singer, who shot to fame after appearing on Britain’s Got Talent in 2009, had spent years believing she suffered slight brain damage at birth.
Susan Boyle, 52, told The Observer of her relief at finally getting a “clearer understanding” of her condition.
She added: “It will not make any difference to my life.”
Susan Boyle shot to fame after appearing on Britain’s Got Talent in 2009
Asperger’s is a form of autism which typically means people with the condition struggle with their emotions and have difficulty in social situations, often unable to pick up on non-verbal cues.
Susan Boyle revealed she was misdiagnosed after complications at birth.
She said: “It was the wrong diagnosis when I was a kid.
“I was told I had brain damage. I always knew it was an unfair label. Now I have a clearer understanding of what’s wrong and I feel relieved and a bit more relaxed about myself.”
Susan Boyle has gone on to become one of the best-selling British female artists and recently had a cameo role in the festive film The Christmas Candle.
More than 60 international leaders have announced they will take part in the memorial service or state funeral of Nelson Mandela, South Africa says.
Barack Obama, Francois Hollande and UK’s PM David Cameron will be among those attending Tuesday’s memorial at a Soweto stadium.
South Africa’s first black president died on Thursday and the nation has held a day of prayer and reflection.
Mourners in their millions visited places of worship and community halls.
At Soweto’s Regina Mundi Catholic Church, a centre of the anti-apartheid struggle, the priest Sebastian Roussouw said the late leader had been “a light in the darkness”.
Nelson Mandela’s ex-wife, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, was among the congregation at the Bryanston Methodist church in Johannesburg, where President Jacob Zuma urged South Africans not to forget the values he had stood for.
In Cape Town, Archbishop Thabo Makgoba said Nelson Mandela was a powerful and continuing reminder that individuals have the power to make change happen in the world.
Over the next eight days, a series of events will commemorate the man who steered their country out of white-minority rule.
More than 60 international leaders have announced they will take part in the memorial service or state funeral of Nelson Mandela
Heads of state and government, global figures and celebrities will join 95,000 ordinary South Africans at the memorial service at FNB stadium in Soweto, where Nelson Mandela made his final major public appearance during the 2010 football World Cup.
The event is likely to be one of the biggest such gatherings of international dignitaries in recent years. The government said 59 leaders had so far confirmed they would be attending: an indication of the special place Nelson Mandela held in people’s hearts across the world, officials say.
Among those on the list are UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, German President Joachim Gauck, EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Crown Prince Felipe of Spain.
Three former US presidents, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, will join President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama.
Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and India’s Pranab Mukherjee will also be there. Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani has not yet confirmed whether he will travel.
Leading celebrities in the anti-apartheid movement Peter Gabriel and Bono are also expected to attend as are former international leaders such as Marti Ahtisaari who, along with Nelson Mandela, were part of a group known as The Elders, promoting peace and human rights.
Nelson Mandela’s body will lie in state in Pretoria on the following three days and he will be given a state funeral on Sunday, 15 December.
A smaller number of international dignitaries including the Prince of Wales will attend the burial in the Eastern Cape village of Qunu, where the late president grew up.
While Tuesday’s memorial service will clearly be a big organizational challenge, the state funeral will be a greater logistical one because of its rural remoteness.
Hundreds of thousands of pro-EU demonstrators have taken to the streets of Kiev seeking the Ukrainian government’s resignation.
Protesters, who oppose a customs union with Russia, toppled a statue of Lenin and smashed it with hammers.
President Viktor Yanukovych has said he shelved the EU deal after Russian opposition.
Protest leaders have given him 48 hours to dismiss the government.
As darkness fell, protesters were blockading key government buildings with cars, barricades and tents.
Witnesses said a group of protesters toppled the statue of Soviet leader Lenin at the top of Shevchenko’s Boulevard using metal bars and ropes and then began smashing it up with hammers.
Others stood by chanting “glory to Ukraine”.
A group of protesters toppled the statue of Soviet leader Lenin at the top of Shevchenko’s Boulevard
Correspondents say the statue has symbolic importance as it underlines Ukraine’s shared history with Russia.
In another development on Sunday, the Ukrainian Security Service said it was investigating some politicians on suspicion of what it called “actions aimed at seizing state power”.
It did not name the politicians.
Amid rising tensions, the European Commission said EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton would travel to Ukraine this week “to support a way out of the political crisis”.
Waving EU and Ukrainian flags, protesters on Sunday congregated on Kiev’s Independence Square – the scene of previous clashes with police.
Ukraine’s special police force, Berkut, has been widely condemned for beating protesters in the square – known as Maidan.
The opposition party of jailed former PM Yulia Tymoshenko has urged people to “chase” the president “until he falls”.
“We are on a razor’s edge between a final plunge into cruel dictatorship and a return home to the European community,” Yulia Tymoshenko said in a message to the crowd read out by her daughter.
“Don’t give in, not a step back, don’t give up, the future of Ukraine is in your hands,” the message read.
The protests are the largest since the pro-democracy Orange Revolution in 2004.
A smaller pro-government rally was held close to the opposition march with police separating the two.
A giant gingerbread house in Bryan, Texas, has been declared the biggest ever by Guinness World Records.
Coming in at 35.8 million calories and covering an area of 2520 square feet, or nearly the size of a tennis court, the 21-foot high gingerbread house in Bryan, 90 miles northwest of Houston, has been declared the biggest ever by Guinness World Records.
The house, with an edible exterior mounted over a wooden frame, was built by the Traditions Club near Texas A&M University to help raise money for a trauma center at the regional St. Joseph’s Hospital.
The giant gingerbread house in Bryan, Texas, has been declared the biggest ever by Guinness World Records
The Texas creation topped the previous record holder for gingerbread houses, a 36,600-cubic-foot model constructed in Bloomington, Minnesota’s Mall of America in 2012.
The recipe is simple. Mix 1,800 pounds of butter, 2,925 pounds of brown sugar, 7,200 eggs, 7,200 pounds all-purpose flour, 1,080 ounces ground ginger and a few other ingredients, bake and form into panels for mounting.
The bakers tried to cut back on the butter and baking soda as much as possible to help the gingerbread better stand up to the weather.
The edible and aromatic panels, icing and candy were mounted over the wooden frame and have so far stood up to the Texas sun as well as a few storms.
Harry Styles and Kendall Jenner were spotted leaving the Gansevoort Hotel in New York City together on Saturday.
Harry Styles, 19, and Kendall Jenner, 18, tried to keep a low profile while exiting the building to grab breakfast, but didn’t have such luck.
The One Direction singer immediately was swarmed by a group of young fans as security tried to escort him out.
Harry Styles wore a peacoat, bandana and sunglasses.
Harry Styles previously denied that he is dating Kendall Jenner
Kendall Jenner got caught up in the frenzy as she walked a few feet away from the singer. Appearing to be a bit startled by the commotion, the reality star donned tight-fitting jeans, a white shirt, a green jacket, and kept her brunette locks down. Kendall Jenner also slung a Louis Vuitton bag over her right shoulder.
Harry Styles previously denied that he is dating Kendall Jenner. Rumors first swirled after they were spotted on a dinner date together in West Hollywood on November 20.
Three days later, Piers Morgan asked Harry Styles if he was dating Kris Jenner’s daughter during One Direction’s 1D Day event.
“We just went out to dinner so no; I guess. I don’t know,” the rocker replied.
On November 25, Harry Styles was spotted leaving Bruce Jenner’s Malibu home at 9:30 a.m. Two hours later, Harry Styles and Kendall Jenner met up for lunch at Soho House in West Hollywood.
South African people are taking part in a day of “prayer and reflection” for late ex-President Nelson Mandela.
President Jacob Zuma will attend a service in a Methodist church in Johannesburg, with other multi-faith services planned throughout the day.
A national memorial service will be held on Tuesday, ahead of a state funeral on December 15.
South Africans have been holding vigils since Nelson Mandela died on Thursday at the age of 95.
Jacob Zuma urged South Africans to go to stadiums, halls, churches, and other places of worship on Sunday to remember their former leader.
South African people are taking part in a day of “prayer and reflection” for late ex-President Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela’s successor as president, Thabo Mbeki, will attend a service at the Oxford Shul synagogue in Johannesburg in the afternoon.
Other senior politicians and ANC officials will go to services across the city, and the country.
Nelson Mandela’s body will lie in state on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at the heart of the South African government in Pretoria.
Members of the public have been encouraged to line the route and form a “guard of honor” when his remains are taken to the site.
A funeral cortege bearing his body is to travel through the streets of Pretoria for three consecutive days before his burial next Sunday.
On Saturday it was announced that President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama will attend Tuesday’s memorial service, along with three other former US presidents, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter.
One government minister has predicted the 95,000-seat stadium being used for the event will be overwhelmed, and promised that overflow areas would be set up.
On Saturday Nelson Mandela’s family gave their first public statement since his death, describing the difficulty of the past two days and the week ahead.
Family spokesman Lt Gen Matanzima likened Nelson Mandela to a baobab tree that had provided shade and protection to his family.
Merrill Newman has arrived in San Francisco after being released by North Korea.
North Korea’s state news agency said Merrill Newman was expelled on “humanitarian grounds” after confessing to “crimes” in the 1950-53 war and “apologizing”.
The US veteran of the Korean War had been held since October 26 on charges of “hostile acts” against the North, while visiting as a tourist.
Although Merrill Newman, 85, did serve during the Korean War, his family says he is the victim of mistaken identity.
Merrill Newman has arrived in San Francisco after being released by North Korea
The US welcomed Pyongyang’s decision.
“We are pleased that Mr. Merrill Newman has been allowed to depart the DPRK [North Korea] and re-join his family. We welcome the DPRK’s decision to release him,” said state department spokeswoman Marie Harf.
“I’m delighted to be home,” Merrill Newman said in San Francisco.
“It’s been a great homecoming. I’m tired, but ready to be with my family.”
He thanked the Swedish embassy in Pyongyang and US embassy in Beijing for helping to secure his release.
Merrill Newman – a pensioner from Palo Alto, California – had been held in North Korea since being taken off a plane as he prepared to leave the country on October 26, following a 10-day tourist visit.
Central Oklahoma has been hit by a 4.5-magnitude earthquake on Saturday, just weeks after the two-year anniversary of the strongest earthquake ever recorded in the Sooner state.
The earthquake was centered near Arcadia, about 14 miles northeast of Oklahoma City, and was about 5 miles deep, the US Geological Survey reported.
Central Oklahoma has been hit by a 4.5-magnitude earthquake on Saturday
Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management spokeswoman Keli Cain said no injuries or damage were reported. The state is crisscrossed with fault lines that generate frequent small earthquakes, most too weak to be felt. But after decades of limited seismic activity in this region, earthquakes have become more common in the last several years.
The strongest earthquake on record in Oklahoma was a magnitude-5.6 earthquake on November 5, 2011. That time, the football stadium in Stillwater, about 70 miles north of Oklahoma City, started shaking just after OSU defeated No. 17 Kansas State and left ESPN anchor Kirk Herbstreit wide-eyed during a postgame telecast.
Barack and Michelle Obama will travel to South Africa to attend the memorial service for Nelson Mandela on Tuesday.
The memorial service on Tuesday, December 10, is part of a week of official observances that will culminate in a state funeral a week from Sunday.
Barack Obama will travel to South Africa to attend the memorial service for Nelson Mandela
The official events honoring Nelson Mandela, who died on Thursday, December 5, at the age of 95, begin on Sunday, when the government will observe a national day of prayer and reflection.
On Sunday, December 15, a funeral service and interment ceremony will take place at Nelson Mandela’s home and final resting place at Qunu in the Eastern Cape.
